Where Our National Anthem Comes From

Between all the hooting and hollering, fire-crackering and sparkling, and all the shows of patriotism that this month brings, I hope you’re taking time to appreciate all the freedoms you have in this great country of ours.

The “Star-Spangled Banner,” our national anthem, is always sung during the festivities; however, the song is notoriously difficult for nonprofessionals to sing because of its wide range—an octave and a half. Professions and amateur singers have been known to forget the words, which is a reason the song is so often pre-recorded and lip-synced during performances! This was news to me, and may be to you too!

A great suggestion might be to find the lyrics of the song and copy them. Fold them away in a wallet or purse for occasions which require Americans to sing this anthem. At times when the song will be sung retrieve them and instantly you have the verses available to you. You will instantly become a “star” and a real patriot. You won’t be one of those who forget the words!

The original “Star-Spangled Banner,” flag that inspired Franis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",^[1] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Have a wonderful holiday, and do think of me if ever you should have any real estate needs.